Real Steel is a 2011 American science fiction sports film starring Hugh Jackman. Produced and directed by Shawn Levy, the film is based on the short story "Steel", written by Richard Matheson, which was originally published in the May 1956 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and later adapted into a 1963 Twilight Zone episode. The story features a down-on-his-luck former boxer (Jackman), whose sport is now played by robots, as he and his son (Dakota Goyo) find an abandoned robot and train it to be a promising fighter. Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, and Kevin Durand star in supporting roles.

The film was in development for several years before production began on June 24, 2010. Filming took place primarily in the U.S. state of Michigan. Animatronic robots were built for the film, and motion capture technology was used to depict the rodeo brawling of the robots.

Real Steel was distributed worldwide by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through the Touchstone Pictures label in the United States on October 7, 2011, grossing nearly $300 million at the box office. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances and visual effects, but criticized the formulaic plot. The film was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 84th Academy Awards.

In the 2020s, boxing between human fighters has been replaced with robots. In Texas, former boxer Charlie Kenton owns the robot Ambush until it is destroyed in a fight against a bull belonging to promoter and carnival owner Ricky. Having bet money he did not have with Ricky that Ambush would win, Charlie absconds before Ricky can collect.

After the fight, Charlie learns his ex-girlfriend died, and he must attend a hearing about their 11-year-old son Max, whom he hasn't seen since birth. Max's maternal aunt Debra and her husband Marvin seek full custody. Charlie agrees to give up custody of Max for money, while Marvin negotiates that Charlie keeps custody for three months during their vacation.

Settling into a gym owned by Bailey Tallet, the daughter of Charlie's former boxing coach, Charlie uses half the money to acquire the once-famous World Robot Boxing (WRB) robot Noisy Boy. He and Max take Noisy Boy to Crash Palace, an underworld boxing arena run by his friend Finn, where Noisy Boy is destroyed against robot boxer Midas.

While searching for replacements in a junkyard and then sliding down a cliff, Max discovers Atom, an obsolete, dilapidated, but mostly intact sparring robot that breaks Max's fall and saves his life. Atom is designed to endure damage with a rare "shadow function" program, which mirrors and memorizes the handler's or opponent's movements.

Charlie pits Atom against the robot Metro at Max's request, and the junkyard bot surprisingly comes out on top. Max integrates Noisy Boy's voice command hardware with Atom and convinces Charlie to optimize Atom's movements. Altogether, Charlie's boxing experience and Atom's shadow function build a winning streak that leads to Charlie being offered a WRB fight between Atom and the national champion, Twin Cities.